Nikumaroro village, Waghena Island

In 1963, the British moved the residents of Nikumaroro to Waghena Island in the Solomons. In December of 1995 TIGHAR sent Professor Dirk Ballendorf (TIGHAR #0838) of the Micronesian Research Center at the University of Guam on an expedition to the Solomons to seek out and interview the surviving former residents of Nikumaroro. This was two years before the discovery of the bones file. Ballendorf brought back tantalizing stories about bones found on the island.